A Classic Revisited

The anime classic Outlanders comes to DVD and only Animefringe has the first look!

Recently, Central Park Media has been in the news for its announcement to release forty to sixty new manga and manhwa titles in 2006. Fans will be happy to see their favorite series continued and to some new titles for the first time. In the new year, however, Central Park Media is more then just releasing a whole lot of manga; they are also putting out many new anime titles as well, and Animefringe is here to give you an exclusive first look at one of their brand new titles coming out early in ’06, Outlanders.

Outlanders is a classic sci-fi, action, comedy, fan-service OVA from 1986 that is being released on DVD for the first time, now digitally restored and remastered, and with a new dub. Considering it's an OVA from 1986, the video quality is great. You get one clean and consistent looking show throughout.

Digitally restored and remastered video normally doesn't get much in the way of arguments from fans; however, a dub is something that you certainly might see heatedly debated. As most avid anime fans are aware, the one thing that you often hear fans complain about is the show's dub, and fans will probably continue the sub versus dub debate for as long as anime is around. Central Park Media has decided to take action and do something about it, giving fans a chance to hear who they want to hear by voting for the cast. In 2005, fans were able to vote for who they wanted to voice the four leads in the series, Tetsuya, Battia, Geobaldi and Kahm. Over 18,000 votes were cast to decide the roles, and two of the characters have been announced. Tetsuya will be voiced by Sean Schemmal (Goku in Dragon Ball Z), and Battia by Rebecca Soler (Miu Nomura in Piano). This was a really nice way to get the fans involved and to help alleviate some of the criticism that dubs normally seem to receive, since it was the fans themselves who decided how it will sound.

Not only do you get a great sounding dub that the fans who voted should be proud of, but also a hilarious script to go along with it. The nearly fifty minute OVA is packed with great one liners. Normally, fans might have a problem with scripts being tweaked a little, but there will be zero complaints here, since you spend most of the movie laughing at the witty script.

The OVA itself is about an alien from space that looks just like a supermodel from Earth, only she has some ram horns on her head. While she's on Earth, she comes across a man whom she decides to marry. We soon find out that her father actually wants to kill everyone on Earth, but perhaps if she and this man marry, then her father won't want to kill everyone on Earth. The one problem is that her father isn't too keen on the idea of her marrying a mere earthling, and neither is practically everyone else that they come across. The story lends itself well to some nice action scenes, plenty of fanservice and some great comedy.

Perhaps one of the nicest things about this show is that the dorky leading male character actually WANTS the supermodel alien girl who wants him! I know; I'm as completely shocked as you are. I know this might sound like some really minor thing, but you will not believe just how refreshing it is to actually see a lead male character not run away from the female that likes him. This alone is a reason to see Outlanders.

Although the OVA isn't extremely long, it does have a little bit of everything in it, whether you like blood, sword play, exploding space crafts, nudity or sex-deprived lead characters; you name it, and most likely Outlanders will have it, one way or another. However, we have to be honest with each other here; the story cannot be considered a masterpiece of the genre. But that's not the point of it either. The point is that it's simply fun to watch, and you have to take it for what it is. If you do that, you will be laughing throughout the show, and you also get some nice fights and explosions to boot.

Considering all the thought that was put into the dub for this release, it's really nice to see that one of the extras added is a short "Behind the Scenes" feature, with commentary from the script writer and the dub voice actors. For the fans that voted, seeing the people that they picked will be a real treat.

For anyone out there interested in more information or seeing some clips of the winning voice actors, head on over to Central Park Media’s Outlanders website (www.centralparkmedia.com/outlanders).

For people new to anime who want to see some of the old classics, you'll be doing yourself a favor by picking up Outlanders, and all of the people who have been watching anime for a while who enjoy seeing older works will be thrilled to see a great new release for Outlanders.